Sanjay Nirupam, who is known as a peoples man or the man of the masses, has served two terms as a nominated MP of the Rajya Sabha. First as a Shiv Sena member and then as a Congress party member. He was representing North Mumbai as an elected Congress member in the Lok Sabha.

In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Nirupam again fought
from the Mumbai North constituency, but this time he faced defeat
with a huge margin of 4.5 lakh votes. Stunned from such a huge margin
of loss, Nirupam has accused BJP of manipulating EVMs.

In
Focus

We talked to Sanjay
Nirupam on his allegations regarding EVMs and some other aspects like
the Congress's defeat, the new leadership etc. Here are the excerpts
of the interview.

Question (Q): Why
do you think EVMs were faulty?

Sanjay Nirupam
(SN): There are many evidences in the net, which says that
EVMs can be tempered. The thing which I am saying today, is already
told by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. He went to Supreme Court, and SC ordered
to give a paper trial along with the EVMs, but in this election paper
trial was not their. I agree that their was a wave against the
Congress party and their was a positive wave for Modi, but it was not
such a strong wave, that we will be loosing with such a huge margin,
it is not possible. There are so many proofs, in my constituency,
there are people who personally have given a commitment that, they
are going to vote for me. And in those areas, minimum 200-300 votes
are expected, but I got only 20-30 votes which is not possible. That
is why, I made an allegation that, this is nothing but tampering with
EVMs and it can be done, it is possible technically.

Q: As you are
thinking to file a PIL, by when can we expect the PIL from your side?

SN: I am
in the process of filing it, and it will take some time.

Q: Why BJP failed
to replicate the success in Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Orissa, because if
EVM can be tampered with in your case, the same could have been done
in other states also?

SN: As
far as my knowledge is concerned, there are different workshops or
servicing centers for EVMs throughout our country, like one center
for the Eastern India, one for Southern India, one for Northern India
and another for western area. There may be two to three centers in
one zone. So, they were able to get in touch with some zones, like
UP, Bihar, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Rajesthan, MP,
Gujarat etc. To the best of my knowledge, there is a servicing center
in Gujarat, which is controlled by one of BJP MP's son. All the EVMs
used in Gujarat comes from that servicing center. When I got into
this whole detail, I came to know that when these machines are
serviced, during that process they are changing some
Micro-controlling chip and through that chip anybody can re-adjust
the number of votes. I think, most probably they (BJP) could not get
any contact in southern India, they could not get any contact in
Eastern India (to tamper with EVMs).

Q: Even if we
agree that the EVMs were tampered with, isn't it a Congress ground
level failure to preempt it and prevent this issue?

SN:
EVM's are not controlled by any government, they are not kept in the
godowns of any mantralay or sachivalay. So, EVM tampering business is
not done by the party workers. In one Lok Sabha constituency there
are 1600 EVMs and BJP has announced that they will be getting 300
seats, that means, there they are working on 300 seats. The EVM
tampering business is controlled by very limited people, sitting
somewhere else. Through the servicing centers, contractors or
agencies these kind of works are made to be done, it is not basically
the party work. That is why most of the political workers and leaders
don't believe that EVMs can be tampered with. When Bush was the
president of the US, he did all these things, then eventually
American administration banned EVMs. Japan is a country which
produced maximum EVMs, but they don't use EVM for the electoral
process in there country. So, why our government or our Election
Commission should depend on EVMs. It is anti-democratic and
unconstitutional.

Q: People are
also seeing your allegations as an excuse behind your defeat? How
would you like to convince them?

SN:
Anybody should be ready to accept his or her defeat politely, and I
accept my defeat. I am the one MP in this country, who worked very
hard for his constituency. I was always available and accessible to
the people. If I have lost by such a huge margin, it is next to
impossible. It is not just an excuse, I have accepted my defeat and
in this situation also I am going to work for my people. But my point
is, this kind of huge margin of loss is unnatural, that is why I am
making allegations.

Q: What are the
reasons, you think are responsible for such a huge defeat of the
congress?

SN: First
and the foremost reason is EVM tampering. Then it is our functioning
in the government, we have done some mistakes and I do accept this.
Price rise and corruption issue. And the way BJP handled its campaign
was superb and our campaign was not well managed. And I do accept all
these things, but in-spite of that this kind of defeat was
unexpected.

Q: Do you think
that the time has come when the Congress party should look for a new
leadership?

SN: As
far as the leadership issue is concerned that is going to be sorted
out in the forum of party and we cannot discuss it publicly. Congress
party is going to analyze the reasons behind this defeat and after
analyzing it, we will be back. Very soon we will be back.